HOHs One-Minute Recess: Final Countdown, No. 7

From a Congressman refusing to pay his cab fare to a certain staffer misusing a listserv, 2010 was a good year for gossip. As the year winds down, HOH will count down our top 10 items of the year. We’ve sifted through dozens of columns and found the most salacious, titillating and hilarious gossip of the year.

At No. 7 is Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.), who got his big Hollywood break in 2010 after being featured alongside tween sensation Miley Cyrus in one of those uber-touching Nicholas Sparks flicks.

“Newest Star of the Silver Screen” From April 12

If you spot a gaggle of paparazzi trailing Rep. Jack Kingston on Capitol Hill this week, don’t be surprised: The Georgia Republican launched his film career during the Congressional recess.

Kingston appears alongside superstar Miley Cyrus in the recently released tearjerker “The Last Song,” a Nicholas Sparks-penned flick that follows the teen as her character reconnects with her father in the small Georgia beach community of Tybee Island.

The island is in Kingston’s district, so the Congressman joined about a thousand of his constituents to work as $8-an-hour extras in the movie when it filmed on location last year. Kingston’s appearance in the film is short but memorable, he tells HOH: He can be spotted (spoiler alert!) in a funeral scene sitting next to actress Kelly Preston, who plays Cyrus’ mother in the film.

While it’s a pretty plum role — “My big-time role of one and a half seconds,” Kingston joked — the Congressman doesn’t have any lines.

“They wouldn’t trust me with that,” Kingston said. “If they gave me any lines, I think they would be afraid I’d go on a [rant] about health care or something.”

When HOH chatted with Kingston on Friday, he hadn’t even yet seen the film — but he told us that he planned to watch it with his wife and daughter soon. Kingston added that he had gotten feedback from constituents and others who had seen the movie.

“Some people have said, ‘Oh, we saw you. You look as ugly on the silver screen as you do in real life,’” he joked.